Windows service created...... Now, to build a GUI?

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TampaWebDevelopment

I have just finished a Windows Service that I have been working on for
quite some time that works pretty well and is fairly useful. To this
point, editing configuration items of the service requires manually
editing the config.xml file. This is completely fine for me. But, I
just decided that I want to build a nice little GUI for the service,
give it a tray icon, and release it for all to use.

I have developed plenty of desktop applications, windows services, web
applications, etc. The one thing that I have not done is build a
Windows Service that has a GUI.

My service is a FTP backup utility. What I would like to develop is a
GUI that will allow the user to add/edit/delete new backup jobs, see
the current activity of the service (if it is currently downloading,
uploading, etc), and be able to stop/start the service.

So, can someone point me in the right direction to achieve this? I
would prefer some good, clean code, not some hack junk.

Thanks in advance. If anyone would like a copy of the code when I
finish it up, shoot me an email and I will be more than happy to
supply it.
 
I have just finished a Windows Service that I have been working on for
quite some time that works pretty well and is fairly useful. To this
point, editing configuration items of the service requires manually
editing the config.xml file. This is completely fine for me. But, I
just decided that I want to build a nice little GUI for the service,
give it a tray icon, and release it for all to use.

I have developed plenty of desktop applications, windows services, web
applications, etc. The one thing that I have not done is build a
Windows Service that has a GUI.

My service is a FTP backup utility. What I would like to develop is a
GUI that will allow the user to add/edit/delete new backup jobs, see
the current activity of the service (if it is currently downloading,
uploading, etc), and be able to stop/start the service.

So, can someone point me in the right direction to achieve this? I
would prefer some good, clean code, not some hack junk.

Thanks in advance. If anyone would like a copy of the code when I
finish it up, shoot me an email and I will be more than happy to
supply it.
Click to expand...

http://dotnetjunkies.com/Tutorial/C417F6B7-89E8-4502-B4D0-68B643EEF8A6.dcik

Use Goole, I am sure you find examples on how to use a Windows desktop
solution to interact with a service using Service Controller and
OnCustomCommands.

The trick will be to get the Service to send data back to the Windows
desktop solution.

I hear you can use Net Remoting for the communications link.

You're not going to find solutions for VB.Net like you can for C#.

Like this one here that you may be able to convert to VB to do AppDomain
communications.

http://www.codeproject.com/cs/library/XDMessaging.asp

You can check with the Code Project and Dotnetjunkies for code examples.

All you want is code examples, then you have to think outside the box on
your own.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in @j4g2000prf.googlegroups.com:
My service is a FTP backup utility. What I would like to develop is a
GUI that will allow the user to add/edit/delete new backup jobs, see
the current activity of the service (if it is currently downloading,
uploading, etc), and be able to stop/start the service.

So, can someone point me in the right direction to achieve this? I
would prefer some good, clean code, not some hack junk.
Click to expand...

The ideal way is to expose your service as a .NET remoting object or WCF
endpoint - this gives you the richest integration option.

Your desktop GUI is a stand alone client application which will
communicate through remoting or WCF to your service.

Your service will expose a set of functions (add/remove/edit/delete
jobs, list jobs, etc.) and your client will call these functions.

Building the client is relatively straightforward if you have experience
with remoting/WCF - if not it's a bit tricky.

A simplier solution (tho definately not as good) would be to do it via
the database. You can submit control records to the database and make
your service pick up control records and action them. I personally
dislike this solution but if you don't have any experience with
remoting/WCF than this is much easier to do.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in @j4g2000prf.googlegroups.com:



The ideal way is to expose your service as a .NET remoting object or WCF
endpoint - this gives you the richest integration option.

Your desktop GUI is a stand alone client application which will
communicate through remoting or WCF to your service.

Your service will expose a set of functions (add/remove/edit/delete
jobs, list jobs, etc.) and your client will call these functions.

Building the client is relatively straightforward if you have experience
with remoting/WCF - if not it's a bit tricky.

A simplier solution (tho definately not as good) would be to do it via
the database. You can submit control records to the database and make
your service pick up control records and action them. I personally
dislike this solution but if you don't have any experience with
remoting/WCF than this is much easier to do.
Click to expand...

It looks like remoting is the way to go. I have looked all over for a
good VB.NET 2.0 example and have yet been able to find one. Can
someone post some simple sample code for the service and the same for
the client? I would greatly appreciate it.
 
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